A quirk of being a native San Franciscan (native enough, anyways: I moved to the city when I was 8 years old) is that some of the more touristy stuff I simply never got around to do. Alcatraz? Never been. Chocolate at Ghirardelli Square? Not a spoon of it. The world-famous Lombard Street hairpins? Nope. Come to think of it, I’m not sure I’ve ever rode on a cable car…
The thinking is: I have time, right? I’m going to live in San Francisco forever (tinge of sarcasm here). There’s plenty of time to tick these boxes off. What I definitely won’t do is crowd around those areas with tourists. No reason to make the line/wait longer for them! Unless of course I have out of town family or friends visiting, and I’m incentivized to take them around to the famous spots. Interestingly, I still have not had the chance to do that.
A landmark I have been to is Angel Island. But that was more than two decades ago. It was part of a school field trip. At the time I was at an elementary school (in Chinatown, naturally) catered to immigrant children from China. Instruction was done in a mix of Chinese and English, so pupils like me can grasp the English language at a more comfortable setting. An obvious field trip then, for a class full of Chinese immigrants, is to visit Angel Island.
The island is infamous for being a processing center for immigrants coming into America in the early 1900s. An Ellis Island of the west, if you will. While immigrants from all corners of the globe came through the place, Angel Island is mostly known for being a waystation for Chinese immigrants. I guess our teachers wanted us modern-day immigrants to know our history, and the tremendous difficulties our predecessors faced.
I was only nine at the time, so I was (still) more concerned about learning English than any sort of history about my people. I honestly don’t remember much from the trip, other than taking the ferry, and seeing Chinese poetry being carved on the walls of the detention facilities. But hey, back in elementary school, spending a full day outside of school property is exciting.
A few months back – as a full fledge adult – I visited Angel Island for a second time. My friend has a YouTube channel focusing on Chinese American history, and travel to Asian countries (respectively). He’s been talking about going to Angel Island – as big a landmark vis a vis Chinese American history as there is – for the longest time. So, to tick the box off his list, we finally made the trip back in early May.
As mentioned: being an island out in the middle of the San Francisco Bay, getting to Angel Island entails a ferry ride. And where to but the San Francisco Ferry Building to do so. Easy to remember.
You can peruse the ferry schedule here. All boats found for Angel Island departs at Gate B.
There was a surprising amount of fellow revelers heading to Angel Island. Unbeknownst to us, the island is apparently a great and popular hiking destination. As we shall find out later. (Sadly, not knowing so before hand, we were definitely not dressed for a hike.)
One of the joys of taking the ferry is looking back at the San Francisco skyline, as the boat departs away from the city. On a rare sunny day like the one we had, the views are rather spectacular.
The Angel Island ferry passes by the other infamous San Francisco island: Alcatraz. We’ll make it there one day.
Rounding the bend as we approach Angel Island.
I erroneously thought these were the immigrant detention facilities. I later found out these are actually military barracks. Angel Island used to have troops stationed on its premises, not unlike the Presidio of San Francisco.
Being a California State park, Angel Island offers plenty of leisure opportunities. Boating of varying sizes and type seems to be a big one. I would love to try a bit of kayaking one day. It looks like a great way to workout.
Plenty of travelers waiting to get on just as we got off the ferry. After stopping at Angel Island, the boat then go towards Tiburon, before making the loop back to San Francisco.
Ayala Cove is where the ferry dropped us off. Because we were there for Chinese historical culture, we followed the green line on the Perimeter Road. A circumnavigation of the island along its periphery. Note that it is five total miles, so do calculate how long it will take you to walk that length. You’re definitely not going to want to miss the last ferry out.
You can boat. You can bike. You can also have a picnic. Angel Island really do have everything. Except for one major flaw: no dogs are allowed on the island. That is a great shame.
We began our hike by heading towards the visitor center.
The Perimeter Road soon took us to a higher vantage point. The view out towards the water improved that much more.
Are you quick to tire out? There’s plenty of benches along the road to take a breather. Or take in the views statically.
First point of interest we come to is the one we came for: the Immigration Station. This is where the predominantly Chinese immigrants were detained and processed, before (if they were lucky) being let into America proper.
Getting to Immigration Station calls for deviating from the Perimeter Road and walking down towards the water.
The Immigrant Heritage Wall immortalizes some of the people and families that have gone through the not-so-pleasant Angel Island experience. I checked: there were a few Chen (陳) surnames on that wall.
It’s striking to me how beautiful and picturesque all of this scenery is. I can only imagine the immigrants who were detained in the barracks, having to look this every single day. The view offers so much hope and promise, yet fences and walls prevent the immigrants from fulfilling their wishes. It’s sad and sobering.
The main attraction at Immigration Station is the detention barracks. Today, it’s a museum of sorts. For a not-so princely sum of five dollars, you get to go inside and see a facsimile of what the place looked like way back when.
One of the things I do remember from my elementary school field trip to Angel Island are the Chinese poetry carved on the walls. The artistry of the carvings is magnificent. The poetry’s content - the longing for family and freedom - is altogether heartbreaking and humbling. I am incredibly lucky to be born in an era where legal immigrants do not have to suffer through soul-crushing detention like this.
However, even in detention, humanity cannot be stripped away from the people. That choice still solely belongs to them. The will to make the best out of a situation can be seen in the recreative games on display.
Notice the one essential item they can’t live without: smokes!
The sleeping quarters are bunk-style, stacked three high. The size of these would be considered for kids by modern standards. Everything these immigrants own - which is to say, not much - can fit into suitcases. Laundry is hung to dry on wires above. The bedding is United States Army issue.
As mentioned, Angel Island may be known for processing Chinese immigrants, many from other nationalities were also processed through the grounds. In another room within the detention barracks, the bunk beds there exhibit the varying cultural items brought from other countries.
I hope this violin is actually of period, and not a replica! Old instruments that still work are impossibly cool.
Obviously, it’s not just men who made the journey over to America. Women did also, and they lived separately from the men at the barracks. A room there now shows the living quarters and personal items of these women, from different nationalities.
It’s incredibly sobering to see these artifacts of immigrants past. These people left their homeland to move to an entirely foreign country, with an entirely foreign language. They did so without our modern benefits of communication and political tolerance. Words like bravery and courage are inadequate to describe their mettle. In the next part of this series, I’ll write about how seeing the detention facilities at Angel Island resonates with my own immigrant story.